Help fellow DUers prepare for ANY nominee. List issues your favorite led on

[blm]

the fights they took on for the party, the decisions they made on nominations, and the firm support they gave other Democrats on their tough battles.


Help us all, so we can be there to help back when the time comes.

[Mythsaje]

1. Crickets?

I don't have a favorite candidate yet, so I can't weigh in on this one. I'm waiting to see what everyone is bringing to the table.

[blm]

2. People have favorites for reasons that they have a strength and character others lack, so

I'd like to see that strength of character and toughness and HONESTY that the supporter prizes and put the facts out there so all of us can benefit from knowing more about each candidate and have the facts at hand to dispute whatever lies pop up through the GOP, the corpmedia, or even from other Democrats targetting them.

People talk alot about someone being a fighter, so let's hear about the SERIOUS FIGHTS that each of them took on and how they used that fighting strength to propel serious issues that needed their leadership skills.
Or how they used that fight to fight for.with other Dems doing battle.


After all, one of them will be the nominee, and it would be helpful for us all to know the pros and cons of each one to better support and better defend.

[Mythsaje]

3. Makes sense to me...

I see this sort of thing to be a lot more constructive than the attack threads so many people post. But, on the other hand, the attack threads get the responses while this one is pretty much ignored.

Tells you something, and it ain't pretty.

[blm]

5. I can be as tough as anyone on Dem prospects, but it's always important to stick

to the records and their own statements and actions.

I supported Kerry in the primary, but, for an example, could have easily defended Dean if he turned out to be the nominee because I paid attention to his entire record of service and the positive adjustments he made and knew all the soft spots that needed a more prepared defense.

[Lord Byron]

4. Trade Trade Trade Trade Trade

It's the economy stupid.

Fuck globalization. Fuck the war.

To put it bluntly.

Unless the Dems give me a Sanders, a Webb, a Dorgan, a Feingold...etc...I'm going for Kucinich.

[FrenchieCat]

6. There are many reasons that I would support a Wes Clark campaign...

As I have thoroughly researched him and have yet to find anything that would make me think twice, my support is informed...which I believe is very important. It is, what some would call; solid! :)

The fact that Wes said all of the following back in September of 2002 shows that he has the insight that this country needs in its leader. Not only did he know why we didn't need to go into Iraq, he also knew what would happen.

"The war is unpredictable and could be difficult and costly. And what is at risk in the aftermath is an open-ended American ground commitment in Iraq and an even deeper sense of humiliation in the Arab world, which could intensify our problems in the region and elsewhere.

we're going to have chaos in that region....; in fact, what may happen is that we'll remove a repressive regime and have it replaced with a fundamentalist regime which contributes to the strategic problem rather than helping to solve it.

Then we're dealing with the longer mid term, the mid term problems. Will Iraq be able to establish a government that holds it together or will it fragment? There are strong factionary forces at work in Iraq and they will continue to be exacerbated by regional tensions in the area. The Shia in the south will be pulled by the Iranians.
The Kurds want their own organization. The Kurds will be hemmed in by the Turks. The Iraqis also, the Iranians also are nervous of the Kurds. But nevertheless, the Kurds have a certain mass and momentum that they've built up. They will have to work to establish their participation in the government or their own identity."

We've encouraged Saddam Hussein and supported him as he attacked against Iran in an effort to prevent Iranian destabilization of the Gulf. That came back and bit us when Saddam Hussein then moved against Kuwait. We encouraged the Saudis and the Pakistanis to work with the Afghans and build an army of God, the mujahaddin, to oppose the Soviets in Afghanistan. Now we have released tens of thousands of these Holy warriors, some of whom have turned against us and formed Al Qaida.
My French friends constantly remind me that these are problems that we had a hand in creating. So when it comes to creating another strategy, which is built around the intrusion into the region by U.S. forces, all the warning signs should be flashing. There are unintended consequences when force is used. Use it as a last resort. Use it multilaterally if you can. Use it unilaterally only if you must."
http://www.rapidfire-silverbullets.com/2007/01/mining_and_finding_prescient_g.html

Wes on Charlie Rose back in Sept 23, 2002 is posted at this link.....watch if you want to "see" what he was saying!
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10592#comment-172921

I also like his broaching the Singlepayer health system, and the fact that we must transition to such a system ASAP!

div class="excerpt"]
Well, it turns out one prominent Democrat did just that in a speech about a year ago, only we didn't know it (even though it generated a lot of buzz online). As pradeep points out in his DailyKos diary, 1. Wesley Clark endorsed moving towards a single-payer model during a 2006 speech to the New America Foundation . (Thanks to fellow Kos health care diarist DrSteveB for the tip.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/19/81228/5453?detail=f )

Here's the key passage:
"No child in America should grow up without regular medical check-ups and care - or regular exercise and physical fitness - and every adult should be provided access to the kinds of diagnostic testing and preventive treatments which can slow the onset of aging diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's. Additional insurance coverage should be directed to catastrophic illness and injuries, the kind that wreck families and shatter productive lives. And inevitably this will mean transitioning over time from a work place centered, private payer system toward greater reliance on some form of single-payer system to ease administrative burdens and reduce costs. (Emphasis mine.)"

The fact that Clark used the term "single-payer" seems deliberate -- and, if so, significant. True, Clark crafted his language carefully, to suggest "moving towards" a single-payer system rather than impelmenting one right away. But that's a position many single-payer advocates hold. Keep in mind, also, that Clark, like most of the 2004 presidential field, had during his campaign contented himself with more incremental measures (although his plan, like those of his rivals, was certainly a good one as incremental measures go).
-Jonathan Cohn
http://www.tnr.com/blog/theplank?pid=72899

[Mythsaje]

7. Sounds good to me...

I like what I know about Clark.

[blm]

8. you forgot to add that Wes stands up for other Dems in important fights.

He sided with Kerry on Rumsfeld's firing in 2003 and 2004 when few Democrats would. He also led the fight against the swifts when bigname Dems failed to show up in that 2004 battle. Where were they and why were they hiding throughout those months of confrontation? Wes and Cleland showed up - where were the bigname Dems?

Showing up for real battles, not easy ones.

That takes character.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Thank you blm, for making that statement and giving Wes that

recognition! :patriot:

[blm]

10. The point of the thread is to highlight the CHARACTER strengths the candidates show

and have shown in the past. Their list of accomplishments and leadership battles and choices that demonstrated those skills.

I am surprised that this thread isn't filled with posts about the preferred candidates and their accomplishments and their demonstrations of strength and character.